One red card in the cup, which went to Alavés midfielder Turiel for a second bookable offence. And another six at the weekend, with two being shown in the match between Osasuna and Barcelona after Alfredo and Luis Enrique were spotted by the referee swinging handbags at each other near the end. According to the official report, each grabbed the other by the shirt and called him "hijo de p***". Could they be half-brothers?

Real Murcia's Jensen was in the news again after he got his third straight red card of the season, this time for stopping the ball with his hand as it was going in to the net, and Deportivo's Héctor was also shown a red card, somewhat unfairly in his case, as Albacete's Aranda put in yet another claim for the Spanish Olympic diving team. Atlético's Sergi moves into second place in our table after he was sent off for a second bookable offence, and the other red card went to Albacete assistant coach Pedro Parada who picked up two yellow cards in succession for arguing with the referee,

No less than ten players will miss the next match for accumulation of yellow cards, including Osasuna's Puñal who wasn't booked in the match but was given his tenth booking of the season by the disciplinary committee after the referee reported the midfielder for accusing him in the tunnel of not adding on enough injury time. The other nine, all of whom reached the five card barrier, were as follows: Del Horno (Athletic), Santi (Atlético), Valdés (Barcelona), Sylvinho (Celta), Rojas and Gerardo (Málaga), Lussenhoff (Mallorca), Regueiro (Racing) and Martí (Sevilla). (10.02.04)